


Melisma

by Lepidopteran (lepi)



Series: Earn Your Way Back [10]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Rebirth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 01:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3831679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lepi/pseuds/Lepidopteran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Megatron and Soundwave might be off having adventures, but Blaster’s left in charge of protecting a bunch of newly-replated Minicons: Autobot, Decepticon, and Neutral.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Melisma

**Author's Note:**

> I should probably note a few things before starting.
> 
> First, this is [Aligned-verse deployer Steeljaw](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Steeljaw_%28FOC%29), not RID Steeljaw, and if they end up canonically linked somehow I’m cheerfully ignoring that for the purposes of this ‘verse.
> 
> Second, while I'm using very flimsy glimpses of canon to guide me in terms of Blaster's Minicons (I mean… as far as I know, the toys are the _only_ place where Sunder is named as one of his Minicons) I am thoroughly ignoring the same canon telling me that Buzzsaw and Ratbat were Soundwave's deployers because they were already established elsewhere.

Blaster had tired of fighting a long time ago, but if someone had asked him for the exact moment when he'd stopped believing in the Autobot cause, he'd have answered immediately: Steeljaw's death. The others had been long gone by that point— Blaster had no way of knowing whether they were dead or not, having been separated from them long enough that the synchronization channels had all decayed, but his spark had been certain that Autobot Minis weren't going to survive out there alone, not without Blaster or another Cybertronian willing to accept carrier mods for them to siphon energy off of.

Not without medics qualified to make those mods.

And he'd been right: he hadn't even been able to protect Steeljaw, in the end. He'd found all his other partners vorns later, growing in a tiny hotspot on Cybertron itself, the moon not having been restored by the same miracle that the planet had.

Blaster found himself relieved when Megatron and Soundwave left for parts unknown right after the Minis' plating came in. They were great protectors for the newsparks, he could admit that much, but the idea of having his reunion with Steeljaw watched over by the Cybertronian who'd lead to Steeljaw's death in the first place— he didn't want to think of it. He could deal with his Decepticon audience as long as they were Minis themselves. Blaster carefully hooked his fingers under Steeljaw's cooling metal and gathered his partner into his lap. The hug was careful; he didn't want to dent the plating when it was hot enough that a friendly touch might leave a permanent mark, but he couldn't wait any longer. "Hey," he whispered. "Welcome back. I'm sorry."

Steeljaw huffed and rested his jaw on Blaster's shoulder. "You've got nothing to be sorry about," he said.

"Unless it's 'not shooting the Decepticons while we have the chance,'" Eject chimed in. "So, _is_ there a reason we're not doing that?"

"Go ahead, try, and we'll see how fast you end up in a pile of Autoscrap again!" Rumble sneered.

To Blaster's surprise, Ravage swatted Rumble's leg, and the belligerent Mini settled with a scowl. Buzzsaw, meanwhile, watched the whole thing with fascination.

Blaster was pretty sure Buzzsaw would end up with Soundwave, if they decided to go with anyone. The thought would have stung, once— Blaster had hated Soundwave with every pulse of his spark and his protective subroutines for exposing the Minis to the toxicity of the Decepticons. But the fact was that Soundwave had kept Laserbeak alive. And he and Megatron had proven to be surprisingly competent at protecting innocent sparks. Blaster might not be _happy_ about it, but he could at least admit freely that Soundwave would look a lot more attractive to a flying Minicon.

Especially since Sunder hadn't woken up with the rest of them.

And maybe Blaster was just a little bit more jealous of those feeler mods than of Buzzsaw's obvious fascination with Laserbeak and Soundwave. Those were a good mod for a carrier, much better suited for detail work in repairing tiny frames than Blaster's more traditional hands. If he'd had something like that when Steeljaw got hit—

Steeljaw interrupted his thoughts with another faint huff. "Aren't the rest going to emerge?" he asked, eying the hotspot.

"Nah, the rest of 'em are full-size Cybertronians. They'll take a little longer to build up enough materials for the final frame construction." Blaster stroked his back plating. "You're the last of the Minis, and let me tell you, you sure took your sweet time." He glanced around at the rest of his former partners. "Rewind? You okay?" The little black-plated Mini hadn't so much as greeted Blaster when his plating had come in; he'd moved immediately to a nearby console to flick through it with an intent look.

Rewind looked up from the screen and blinked his optics. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He looked back down at the display. "Just trying to access some sort of database. There's someone I'd like to check up on."

Blaster frowned and looked at Eject for an explanation, but Eject looked as baffled as he felt. "Yeah? You talking about Sunder?"

Rewind shook his head. "No, I don't think Sunder's coming back." His little fingers tapped once, twice, and he bowed his head. "There's… someone else. If he's dead… if he's coming back… I don't want him to wake up alone."

Blaster felt unease stir in his spark. Rewind sounded a lot more okay with Sunder's death than Blaster felt, certainly, but something else was definitely going on. "You might have more luck with the main Autobot base. They have a fully functional ship to work with, and plenty more coming in, so I'm sure they've got their systems online by now," Blaster suggested. "In fact, now that you're all here again, I was thinking of heading back that way myself."

"No offense, but if anyone's system is going to get me the data I need, it'll be Soundwave's," Rewind said. "He'll be compiling all the data the Autobots bring in."

Frenzy eyed him and started to sidle closer. "You got yourself a boyfriend?" he asked, and Blaster tensed. He couldn't read Frenzy's tone well enough to tell if that was a sneer or not. It didn't sound like one, but it didn't sound friendly, either, and Frenzy wasn't known for making idle conversation with Autobots.

Whatever that tone was, Rewind didn't react with anger. "Yeah," he said instead, voice quiet.

"Whoa!" Frenzy said, glancing over at Blaster with a huge, scrap-eating grin on his face. "Can't have been another carrier. Blaster's the only one on your side with the right kind of mods. So how's that work? Your port actually cycle big enough for his jack? Or does he like being plugged by a Mini enough that he didn't need to plug you back?" He reached for Rewind's plating, but Rewind sidestepped it before Blaster could do anything more than tense. Thankfully, Ravage growled and snagged Frenzy around the abdominal plating. "Yeah, yeah, calm your scrap. I'm playing nice, see?"

"I'll show _you_ playing nice, Deceptiscum," Eject growled, and this time Blaster had to be the one to reach out and snag a Mini.

Things might have escalated if Laserbeak hadn't chosen that moment to swoop back into their midst, settling by Ravage and extending miniature versions of Soundwave's feeler mods to a console beyond— not the one that Rewind was using, fortunately. _"I expect there will be no fighting,"_ Megatron's voice said through the speakers, and Rumble and Frenzy both scowled but plunked themselves down onto the ground.

Blaster vented. "Thanks," he said to Laserbeak. "Say, you don't know whether there's a database of survivors, by any chance?"

Laserbeak's feelers withdrew, which seemed to be a no, but then said something in the distinct humming parlance of Minicon flyers. Buzzsaw tilted their head and looked over at Blaster. "Laserbeak says there is a database but it's incomplete."

"That's what I figured," Rewind said quietly, but he stayed hunched over the console.

"Hey," Blaster said softly.

Before he could say anything else, Frenzy gave a rude beep. "Hey, Autodork, stop sulking in our hideaway and go back to your own kind," he said. "You're not gonna find your boyfriend here. Go find him before someone else plugs him and he forgets all about a geeky little Autobit."

"Okay," Blaster said before he could stop himself. "I gotta know. Are you seriously trying to give Rewind helpful advice?"

"What?!" Frenzy sounded horrified, but his optics flickered. "Do you even know who you're talking to?!"

"It sounds like he is, doesn't it?" Ramhorn chimed in.

_"Scrap you!"_

Blaster grinned and relaxed against the wall, putting his hand on Ramhorn's back. Vorns ago, he wouldn't have bothered to ask, and Ramhorn wouldn't have bothered to tease. They'd have attacked at the slightest provocation. Being a world where that had changed… felt good. He could wait until Soundwave and Megatron returned before he started to press the issue of going back to the Autobots. Rewind could take all the time he needed. This? This wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
